Family hopes release of security camera images will lead to clues in case of missing Brown U. student

The images are grainy, but the family of a missing Brown University student hopes a newly released video that they believe documents the last known location of their son may help them find him.

Sunil Tripathi’s girlfriend reported him missing March 16. New evidence suggests that he left his apartment on Angell Street in Providence early that morning. Last week, authorities expanded the search for the 22-year-old to greater Boston, an area he often visited.

The surveillance video, released today, shows a man matching Tripathi’s description walking south on Brook Street near his apartment at 1:33 a.m. March 16, just 19 minutes after his last known computer activity, according to a statement from the family.

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“This footage provides important clues that can help hone our search for Sunil,” Tripathi’s sister Sangeeta Tripathi said in the statement.

The man in the video is wearing a black cap, dark jacket, and jeans. Tripathi was last seen wearing a black Philadelphia Eagles hat, a black ski jacket, jeans, and thin black-rimmed glasses, the statement said.

Tripathi often walked along that route, said Ben Beachy, a friend of Tripathi’s.

Tripathi’s family expressed their gratitude to the Providence community and businesses who have made their security camera archives available to authorities, the statement said.

“We have been awed by the outpouring of support from the Providence community,” said Tripathi’s brother Ravi Tripathi. “From grocery store and coffee shop owners who are posting flyers to the waves of complete strangers who have volunteered to search the parks and canvass the streets, the community’s willingness to pitch in to find Sunny has been really remarkable.”

Anyone with information on Tripathi’s whereabouts or who may have seen him between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. March 16 is asked to call Providence Police Detective Mark Sacco at 401-641-8691.